In fact, no one is or will ever be. And I know the same goes for you, UTUSN.
How to Counter Fascism
Fascism is not inevitable. Not if we put ourselves, body and soul, fully and smartly, on the line to stop it.
By Walden Bello
Foreign Policy In Focus | July 9, 2024
Excerpt...
How to Counter Fascism
Let me end by switching from the analytical to the normative, from being the academic to being the activist.
First, we need to stop resorting to easy explanations about the rise of far right, like the claim that trolls are responsible for it, and acknowledge that far-right personalities and movements have a critical mass of popular support.
Second, we must acknowledge that in being able to mobilize people using the most up-to-date methods available on the internet, the fascists are far ahead of us. To cite just one example, in 2020, Modi, who was among the top five most followed world leaders on social media, had 45.9 million followers compared to opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s 3.5 million on Facebook.
Next, we need to find ways of stopping the extreme right from coming to power in the first place, like building broad united electoral fronts, even with non-fascist groups we may have differences with. It’s much harder to remove the far right once they’re in power. Even if they lose elections after they’re in power, their work in reshaping democratic institutions may be very difficult to undo. As New York Times commentator Michelle Goldberg, notes, with respect to the transition in Poland from the Law and Justice regime that lost the October 2023 elections to the new liberal government led by Donald Tusk, “The new coalition government has a mandate to rehabilitate [government] institutions, but the former rulers aren’t ceding control willingly, and often there’s no consensus about who has the authority to settle conflicts related to the transition. For Poland’s new leadership, roadblocks to reform are everywhere.”
Fourth, we need to make sure we have at the leading edge of our resistance those movements that have a great deal of resonance among broad sectors of the population including the middle classes, such as the movements to stop climate change, promote gender equality and reproductive rights, and advance racial justice. Again, the example of Poland provides encouragement. As Goldberg points out, playing the key role in the electoral outcome of the October 2023 elections was “public revulsion toward a far-reaching abortion ban.” Likewise, the result of the U.S. presidential elections later this year may well hinge on the resistance of women to the threat posed by the far right to their control over their bodies.
Fifth, we must fiercely defend human rights and democratic values, even where–or especially where–they have become unpopular. This will involve aggressively championing people and groups that are currently persecuted, with majority opinion being whipped up against them, like Muslims in India and non-white immigrants in both the United States and Europe. International solidarity with the persecuted is an essential element of the anti-fascist project. Compromise here will only encourage the fascists. Moreover, equality, human rights, democratic rights, and due process are the cornerstones of the democratic world view. When it comes to freedom of movement, of course, every country has the right to manage migration in an orderly manner. But this is very different from virtually sealing off its borders for racist, chauvinist, or religious reasons that are disguised as “protecting our values” or “preventing disorder” or “saving jobs.”
Sixth, let’s not fear to see what we can learn from the extreme right, especially when it comes to the politics of passion or the politics of charisma, and see how our values can be advanced or promoted in passionate and charismatic ways. We must unite reason to passion and not see them as being in contradiction, though, of course, we must not violate our commitments to truth, justice, and fair play in the process
Seventh, if history, especially of the United States, is any indication, one must not preclude the possibility of violent civil war, and should that become a real threat, to take the appropriate steps to counter it. CIA analyst Barbara Walter is not crying wolf when she writes:
Where is the United States today? We are a factionalized anocracy [a degenerating democracy] that is quickly approaching the open insurgency stage, which means we are closer to civil war than any of us would like to believe. January 6 was a major announcement by at least some groups—such as the Oath Keepers–that they are moving toward outright violence…In fact, the attack on the Capitol could very well be the first series of organized attacks in an open insurgency stage. It targeted infrastructure. There were plans to assassinate certain politicians and attempts to coordinate activity.
Given her background, it is not surprising that Walter suggests that part of the response might involve “engaging in targeted retaliation…where governments should arrest, prosecute, and seize the assets of insurgents” and pursuing “a strategy of called ‘leadership decapitation,’ which involves imprisoning the leaders of a terrorist group to hasten its collapse.” But this raises the question of how far partisans of democracy should cooperate with the institutions of the state and still preserve their commitment to protecting basic freedoms and due process. Anti-fascists must protect democratic freedoms but ensure that actions to protect those freedoms do not turn into state-directed repression.
But, probably most important, we need to have a transformative vision that can compete with that of the far right, one based on genuine equality and genuine democratic empowerment that goes beyond the now discredited liberal democracy. Some call this vision socialism. Others would prefer another term, but the important thing is its message of radical, real equality beyond class, gender, and race. Our gamble is that that side of human beings that values cooperation and, yes, love, will triumph over that side that seeks a regression to Nietzsche’s blonde beasts.
Continues...
https://fpif.org/how-to-counter-fascism/
So, let's see how much of the USA will decide to go-along to get-along. Those on the fence need know: There isn't enough money in the world that can take away the stench of MAGA.
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